Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Aquatint: From Its Origins to Goya

 


Paul Sandby, Caernarvon Castle (Night)

Paul Sandby, Caernarvon Castle (Night), 1776
etching and aquatint printed in brown on laid paper, plate: 23.9 x 31.6 cm (9 7/16 x 12 7/16 in.), sheet: 29 x 37.2 cm (11 7/16 x 14 5/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift o
f Ruth B. Benedict. 1994.60.58

National Gallery of ArtOctober 24, 2021, through February 21, 2022
Aquatint is a printmaking technique that first gained popularity in 18th-century Europe for its unique ability to evoke the subtle tonalities of ink and wash drawings. The first exhibition of its type in the United States, Aquatint: From Its Origins to Goya explores the medium as a cross-cultural and cosmopolitan phenomenon that contributed to the rise of art publishing, connoisseurship, leisure travel, and drawing instruction, as well as the spread of neoclassicism.